Post by saladfingers on Apr 10, 2005 22:23:47 GMT -5
You shouldn't be here. You'll only turn out like her......dead.
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Dakota Fanning and Robert De Niro slug it out for top acting honors in this creepy psychodrama. After his wife is found dead in the bathtub, Manhattan psychologist David Callaway (De Niro) decides to take his traumatized child, Emily (Fanning), to live in a big, gloomy country house upstate. The shadow of the twisty backyard woods--or something darker--soon creeps over the house and Emily finds a weird friend named Charlie, who her father believes is only imaginary. Charlie likes to play games, and is also very jealous of anyone who tries to come between Emily and her dad, like an attractive local divorcee (Elizabeth Shue) and Emily's New York psychiatrist (Famke Jannsen).
Director John Polson takes his time letting the little details of the story accrue in the patently somber tradition of directors like M. Night Shyamalan. John Ottman's score is spooky, the photography is drenched in warm colors, and the mood is relentlessly strange and unsettling. De Niro is fine as a wheezing, aging doctor who can't seem to fathom the extent to which his domestic situation has moved past his control. Of course there's a shocking twist or two, plenty of jolts, red herrings, and sinister woodland explorations (including a dark and foreboding cave), but the spookiest ingredient in this potboiler is the brilliant Fanning. With her jet black hair, pale skin, and wide blue eyes, she enters the realm of instant horror iconhood as the alternately frightened and frightening Emily. Other cast members include Dylan Baker as the local sheriff, and Amy Irving, excellent in her few scenes as Emily's mother.
On De Niro:
Josephson notes that casting the legendary Robert De Niro is critical to the film. "De Niro leaves an indelible mark on audiences with every role he plays," says Josephson. "He brings so much to HIDE AND SEEK in conveying David's increasing anguish and fear over what's happening to his daughter."
Director John Polson, who joined the project after helming the hit Fox thriller Swimfan, notes that HIDE AND SEEK gave De Niro the opportunity to play a new kind of role for the actor. "We haven't seen Bob play a father holding things together while his family's falling apart. It's a new kind of vulnerability for him to play, and it was exciting to watch him show us a different side."
On Fanning:
The search for Emily, a complex and demanding part, led the filmmakers to Dakota Fanning. "I don't think there's a better actress at her age out there," says Josephson. "She is gifted beyond her years." "Dakota blows my mind; there's just no other way to put it," Polson says. "Working with her is like working with an incredibly talented 35 year old."
Fanning's First Reading Of The Script Was A Memorable Experience. "I Started Reading It In My Room, Upstairs, But I Got So Scared I Had To Go Downstairs, Where My Dad And Sister Were, To Finish Reading It," She Remembers.
To play the troubled youngster, the blond-haired Fanning donned a brown wig and applied under-eye makeup, which gave the young actress a haunted appearance. But the wig, as effective as it is, only serves to help the actress tap into something new for her. "This role is like nothing I've done before," says Fanning. "First of all, I look a lot different. But that's only the beginning. Emily is definitely scared and in some sort of trouble, but she keeps you guessing about who – or what – is really causing these scary things to happen."
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My ratings:
Cast:
Story:
Hide and Seek is yet another movie in which rich white people who don’t seem to have or need jobs move to a mansion in the country to be terrorized by a mysterious, faceless, evil. BUT as the movie unravels, the evil appears not to be faceless afterall. It's actually closer than you would've imagined. This movie is another psycho-thriller that I'd gladly add in my favourite list along side Forgotten, Secret Window, Mind Hunters and the unforgettable Sixth Sense. (Go see those films as well)
Watching Hide and Seek once is not enough if you want to get the best out of it's offered watching experience. It ends in an unexpected twist that makes you want to watch it again. Provided that you already know the ending AND the killer, you'd be able to concentrate on the subtle details leading to the grand conclusion.
My favourite scene would be the 'Kettle boiling within seconds' and the parts where Dakota is repeatedly asked where Charlie is. Pay close attention to how her body tenses and how she cleverly worm her way out of the interrogation. Dakota is really really a very good actress. I mean, how many 10-year-olds are this great at acting, hmmm?
The best twists are the kind that have been hanging around right under your nose, the kind that once you discover them, suddenly make everything else in the movie take on a beautiful sort of poetic sense. This movie offers exactly that kind of twist, although not to the extent Sixth Sense did. Sixth Sense is incomparable in that league. Anyways, Dakota's rendition of a creepy, disturbed girl is the best there is. She's definitely the next Christina Ricci, if not greater. There are times when she looks like Rose Mcgowan when sporting a dyed black hair. And you know me, my weakness are actresses (or actors, think Johny Depp) with gothic persona and bad ass personality. Hail Dakota Fanning! No wonder, she's dubbed as the highest paid child star in Hollyweird.
Try watching other Fanning films, like Man on Fire and I am Sam. She'd be starring in 5 movies this year, btw. Including War of the Worlds, with Tom Cruise.
AND please watch Hide and Seek more than once. It definitely adds to the thrill if you see it the second time. Trust me.
Screencaps:
Hide and Seek's official site: www.hideandseekthemovie.com/home.html